Pericles, the Athena-based electronic voting system, was used again this
year for the presentation of candidate platforms and voting. As of Sunday,
only three candidates did not submit their platforms.

Out of 1,069 eligible freshman voters, 297 voted, for a record-low
turnout of less than 28 percent, significantly lower than last year's 36
percent turnout rate.

Turnout could have been worse

The low turnout was actually about what was expected given the
record-low number of candidates, said Undergraduate Association Treasurer
Russell S. Light '98, who ran the elections. Previous freshman elections
had involved record-high numbers of candidates for each office.

Sandoval narrowly defeated Zhelinrentice L. Scott '00 for the majority
vote and the victory after six rounds of preferential balloting, while
Patil defeated Puja Gupta '00 after three rounds. Other close races
included the one for treasurer, with Williamson claiming 52 percent of the
vote and Gillian M. Deutch '00 claiming 48 percent.

The two candidates were separated by a margin of just nine votes.

Hinton captured 63 percent of the vote, and Huang and Qasba earned a
decisive majority in the race for social chair. The publicity chair
election was uncontested.

Freshmen unfamiliar with offices

Among freshmen, there seemed to be a consensus that the passive
presentation of candidate platforms and an unfamiliarity with the
candidates and the offices themselves contributed to the low voter turnout.
Many commented that they did not vote because they did not know the
candidates and were unfamiliar with the responsibilities of each
office.

Candidates used posters, World Wide Web pages, word of the mouth, and
handouts to make themselves known.

"There were relatively few campaign violations this year," Light said.
"A few candidates received warnings but nothing more serious than
that."